A Retrospect of my 2008

I’m back folks with my last post for this year, well, my year-end post actually. At this hour, you may have already started writing down your new year’s resolution. Yeah, we’ve already done it before—probably many, many times and the resolution that we patiently commit to follow only seems to last for a few weeks. But before the year ends, let me give you a personal update of the year that was.

From NGO to LGU. I never imagined myself to be working in a local government. I am no political person nor do I have any knowledge about the local affairs. But things seemed to have conspired and in a matter of less than 15 minutes of informal interview that day, I landed a job I never thought I would get.

While I was still in the process of whether I should give it a try or not, I told myself, if ever I’m gonna get the job, that I’m just gonna test the waters and see what I can get. And now, I’m on my 10th month! And in those months, I was made to realize the huge responsibility of being a public servant.

Second on my list:

An injured Jantox. Jan had his left knee injured this Christmas Season. Who would have ever thought this would happen to him. He could have attended the annual parolan had somebody invited him. But he opted to play basketball with his officemates. The outcome? A new pair of crutches with his left leg immobilized, and the need for a knee surgery that would cost around 110,000 bucks. Hopefully, he’ll get better soon and that the next Christmas would be more fun for both of us.

And the highlight of it all:

Something black and new. Finally, I had my first ever thing which J, my ever generous santa had given me for Christmas. Thank you sweetie! =)

Happy new year to everyone!

CommArts Summer '08

I hope it’s not too late for me to have this posted, but this one deserves a spot in my blog. After months of hibernating, I’m back with my one and only post for summer! I was just so excited to post this but got no time to go online for this.

One and a half day of fun under the sun and in the water, munching, camwhoring and all. Looking for resorts with affordable rates, we opted to go to Bluewaters Resort, which is just beside Costa Marina. For the information of everyone reading this, entrance to Bluewaters now costs 100 bucks. It’s not really the high end type of resort, but can serve as an option for a quick weekend escape. Cheapskates as we are, we rode the Samal bus and took a “habal” ride since we brought with us baon, which is not allowed if you’re taking the main entrance which can be reached via their boat. You can be allowed to bring baon if you take the back entrance. The staff in the resort are accommodating, and the place is clean, though their rooms need a bit of improvement. Anyhoot, here are the lovely photos courtesy of my also lovely friends.





Good company, nice place, and food, food, food = perfect fun! Looking forward to more of this in the future, hopefully with more of our classmates to join us.

The End in mind

I just came from a meeting yesterday and while discussing with them multitude of issues that's causing me the depression, one cheerfully said "Begin with an end in mind", quoting the words of Covey in his Book the "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People". Who would not know this book - I myself heard about about it a thousand times already - although up to now, I still haven't read it (You might want to lend me one, haha...)

Relating covey's 2nd habit to this world of mine, I told myself, "yeah, I should work with the end in mind". Yup, you read it right, work with the end in mind. For those who are and who'd been into "hell" because of work(an overstatement maybe), it would seem more fitting and inspiring to work with the thought of "Working with the end in mind". I for one, is awaiting for that day when I can finally escape from the agony I had been feeling for several months. The thought of the last days just gives me a feeling of relief, inspiration and all. To end means having to start anew, the end means new environment and being up for new challenges. Now, I'm feeling a little better because some of the impossible things were resolved during the meeting. And of course, I'll be out soon......

One month to go for that end to come...:-)

UP@100: Ang Galing mo!

To all proud peyups!

UP: Excellence, Service, and Leadership in the Next 100 Years"*



The country's premier university, the University of the Philippines is now 100 years old and UP is moving into the future with goals that are ever more expansive. Excellence takes the form of not only developing but also discovering new areas of knowledge. Service goes beyond conducting research to include designing workable and effective action plans. And leadership demands transforming the nation through pioneering endeavors that serve as blueprints for national development.

Concretely, this kinetic dash into the next century involves rationalizing UP's program offerings, strengthening its position as the leading research university, firming up its science and technology programs, and developing a community of scholars with academic credentials comparable to their counterparts in the best universities in the world. For UP, the next century has just begun.

For UP centennial celebration details, visit its official website here

*The UP Centennial theme, "UP: Excellence, Service, and Leadership in the Next 100 Years," was decided upon during the 7th Centennial Commission Meeting on April 25, 2007.

In line with the UP's centennial celebration, the UP Mindanao will be having its 1st UP Mindanao Grand Alumni Homecoming on February 22, 2008.

Venue: UP Mindanao Campus, Administration Building Atrium Mintal,
Tugbok District, Davao City

THEME: "USA KA DOSENA NA TA! TARA, BALIK UP MINDANAO NA!"

The alumni night starts at 7:30 p.m., however, all alumni are also invited to attend the testimonial dinner to honor the prime movers and the pioneer administration, faculty, staff and reps at 4:00 p.m.

Too bad I can't make it...

For more information, contact:

The Alumni Relations Office
UP in Mindanao
Administration Bldg., 8022
Mintal, Tugbok District
+63822930494